NASCAR had the chance to shine during the 2022 Rose Parade presented by Honda, as they fielded a unique float in honor of the upcoming 75th anniversary season of the sport, and to promote the upcoming Busch Light Clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
The award-winning float featured the bold NASCAR 75th Anniversary logo at the front of the float. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty and up-and-coming racer Rajah Caruth were the driver representatives on the float, as they waved at the crowd in the iconic parade.
Next to Petty and Caruth was a larger-than-life recreation of the Bill France Cup — the trophy given to the NASCAR Cup Series champion each season.
Behind Petty and Caruth were three beautifully crafted race cars to commemorate three of the biggest legends in the history of NASCAR. Petty’s iconic red and blue No. 43 car, Dale Earnhardt’s Intimidating black No. 3 car, and Jeff Gordon’s rainbow No. 24 machine.
The cars on the float showcased seaweed, blue statice, cranberry seeds, and split peas.
The cars looked to be flying off of the high-banked track behind them.
The backdrop of the float was the familiar entrance to the LA Memorial Coliseum, with a floral recreated eternal flame atop the tower.
While NBC’s broadcast of the event did not catch the NASCAR float in action, KTLA 5, the local news channel in Los Angeles had a very thorough view of the entire parade. We have included video of the NASCAR float in the parade below (video should be set to start where the NASCAR float appears, but if not move the video to the 2 hour, 10 minute, 10 seconds mark of the video):
NASCAR.com also published a photo album of the float at the Rose Parade.
The NASCAR float took home the Americana Trophy, which is awarded to the float that is deemed to have the Most Outstanding Depiction of National Treasures & Traditions in the parade.
According to a tweet from Danielle Trotta of Fox Sports 1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC hadn’t intended to leave the NASCAR float out of their television coverage of the event. However, a mechanical issue from a float ahead of the NASCAR float in the parade line caused the event to run long, which led to NBC needing to leave the broadcast before the parade had concluded.
Apparently leaving #NASCAR Float off the broadcasts in #RoseParade2023 was not intentional. Hearing a float in front of them broke down and threw off timing. By time it was up and running again broadcast window had run out.
— Danielle Trotta (@DanielleTrotta) January 2, 2023
